Starkville - Mississippi State's pitching continued to struggle as the Bulldogs fell to Arizona State 13-4 on Friday night.
Cade Smith has been one of Mississippi State's more consistent pitchers the past few seasons, but his command was all over the place tonight. Smith set career highs in walked batters with six and earned runs with seven.
It wasn't just the walks that killed the junior righty. Arizona State 2nd baseman Luke Keaschall led the game off with a solo home run, and right fielder Wyatt Krenshaw hit a 2-run shot in the 2nd inning. Smith exited before recording an out in the 4th inning after a walk and an HBP, but things didn't get much better when KC Hunt entered the contest.
"We’re not throwing strikes," Head Coach Chris Lemonis said. "Cade’s been so good for us as a starter over the last two years. This is probably his first not quality start that he’s given us. Tough time to get it, but he just didn’t have his stuff tonight."
Hunt allowed both of his inherited runners to score but was able to limit the damage with no other runs across the board. Things went off the rails for Hunt in the 5th. He struck out the first batter he faced, but three consecutive singles followed by two walks gave the Sun Devils a 10-0 lead.
Florida State transfer Ross Dunn honed the mound for the Sun Devils and gave the Bulldogs trouble in 3.2 innings. The lefty only allowed two hits and struck out four Mississippi State hitters, but a 60-pitch limit knocked him out of the game after a Hunter Hines double. The Bulldogs couldn't manage a run across the board after submariner Brock Perry relieved Dunn for the final out.
The lone bright spot for the Bulldogs Friday evening was freshman lefty-hander Brock Tapper. The southpaw from DeSoto Central came into a bases-loaded situation when Hunt came out and allowed a bases-clearing triple to Sun Devil DH Jacob Tobias, but settled in with a clean slate in a 6th.
Tapper pitched three scoreless frames and struck out four Arizona State batters. He walked two and allowed four hits, and was the only Mississippi State pitcher to throw more strikes than balls.
"He was really good tonight," Lemonis said. "It was nice to see him go out there and compete. Just throw the ball in the strike zone and let us make some plays behind you."
Mississippi State finally got the offense going when ASU brought in San Francisco transfer Owen Stevenson. The Bulldogs scored all four of their runs off the righty. Freshman catcher Ross Highfill was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 6th, and shorstop Lane Forsythe followed with a 2-RBI single into left field.
Sophomore 3rd baseman Slate Alford plated a run on a double in the 7th. The Madison, AL native has been one of the Bulldogs' best bats of the early season with a .320 batting average but his offensive prowess wasn't enough to make up for State's woes on the mound.
Lefty Graham Yntema will make his first start for Mississippi State tomorrow as they try to even up the series, and Texas A&M transfer Khristian Curtis is expected to take the mound for the Sun Devils.
